Several interesting novels concerning the revolutionary period can be recommended. Kenneth Roberts, Rabble in Arms (1933), has long been popular. Roberts's Oliver Wiswell (1944) is particularly interesting because it presents the loyalist point of view. McKinlay Kantor, Valley Forge (1975), gives the reader an understanding of that terrible winter and of the character of General Washington. W.D. Edmonds, Drums Along the Mohawk (1936), was made into a movie in 1939 by John Ford. It stars Claudette Colbert and Henry Fonda as intrepid pioneers mounting a heroic defense against the British and the Indians during the Revolution.

The American History Slide Collection has, in Group B, "The Age of the American Revolution," 113 slides including portraits and dramatic scenes. In a different format, the American Heritage Media Collection has a thirty-five-minute videotape, The Revolution, which avoids staged reenactments and relies heavily on paintings and drawings to tell its story.

The Public Broadcasting System in its American Adventure Series offers three thirty-minute videotapes dealing with the first dozen years of the republic. A Revolution for Independence explores the significance of the Revolution for women, slaves, Indians, and the American economy. The Problems of Confederation treats the critical issues of the Confederation, including dealing with wartime loyalists, economic policy, western lands policy, the problem of the debt, and Shays's Rebellion. Creating a Stronger Union deals with the creation of the Constitution. Another PBS television tape of thirty minutes, Private Yankee Doodle, depicts a reconstructed Continental Army camp during the Revolution. The narrator describes the organization and the purpose of the camp activities as the viewer tours the camp. PBS also offers a powerful documentary series of six one-hour programs, Liberty! The American Revolution, that tells the story from the end of the Seven Years' War to the Constitutional Convention.

Films for the Humanities and Sciences offers two useful videos. Valley Forge: The Battle for Survival (twenty-three minutes) provides a historically accurate account with dramatic reenactments of events of that winter of 1777-1778. The Battle of Yorktown: 1781 (thirty minutes) provides social and economic background, covers major events of the war, and ends with the decisive battle.

The New England Foundation for the Humanities (600 Washington Street, Suite 650, Boston, Mass. 02111) offers a dramatic presentation on videotape, The Other Boston Tea Party. In a series of fictional conversations in 1787 and 1788 among Samuel Adams, Betsy Adams, Harrison Gray Otis, and Sally Foster a number of matters are touched on including the momentous issues of ratification and women's role in society. Another dramatic presentation is available on video from Heritage Films, 358 W. Foothills Boulevard, Claremont, Calif. 91711. In Mary Silliman's War (ninety minutes) the eponymous heroine must fend for herself and her children after her husband is kidnapped during the Revolution.
Document Set 6-1

The Origins of American Political Institutions: The Constitution and The War Powers

1. James Madison's Convention Notes on the Power to Declare War, 1787
2. Alexander Hamilton on Raising Revenue for Defense, 1788
3. Alexander Hamilton on the Powers of the Presidency, 1788Lively discussion should develop (and historical consciousness expand) as students trace the nascent war powers debate and make the connection with its modern extension. To encourage class response, background might be given so that students can grasp the documents' full historical significance. Instructors might provide a context for analysis through lectures on the Confederation years, the Constitutional Convention, and perhaps the presidential-congressional controversy over United States involvement in Vietnam, Central America, or the Middle East.What the sources do not say is important. There was relatively little discussion of the decision to give Congress the powers to declare war and write letters of reprisal (a signal for undeclared war) or the decision to give the president the power to conduct a war after Congress has declared it. Students may be puzzled by the absence of debate. Discussion of this phenomenon will allow instructors to remind students that the historian must often read between the lines. When the convention delegates made their decisions about the war powers, they were less than a decade removed from major Revolutionary War battles, only four years removed from the peace treaty, and still governed under the Articles of Confederation. Article IX of the Articles stated unambiguously that the United States, "in congress assembled, shall have the sole and exclusive right and power of determining on peace and war...." The delegates simply took for granted that the Confederation Congress's power over war and peace belonged to the proposed Congress.Given this consensus on legislative authority, delegates who suggested alternatives were ignored. In a time when antimonarchical and republican views were common, executive authority was questioned. Yet the delegates were sensitive to the need for national security, something not adequately provided for under the Articles. In resolving this deficiency, the most important issue was not a new view on the authority to declare war, but assurance that the government have adequate funds. Instructors will find Charles A. Lofgren, "War Powers, Treaties, and the Constitution" helpful in preparing for discussion.Another issue relevant to war powers was the question of the president's power over the militia. Since the topic is not fully developed in the documents, instructors might wish to assign students to research the problem, which is dealt with in Madison's notes. By relating the subject to future situations, such as the War of 1812 or even the recent debate over the use of national guard units in Central America, it is possible to underscore the significance of the initial debate in 1787.Finally, instructors might use the textbook material to enrich discussion of conflict over the exercise of the war powers. Students could be asked to review the Constitution (reprinted in the appendix) for clues to the long-term controversy that climaxed in the executive-legislative clash of the 1960s and 1970s over Vietnam, the War Powers Act of 1973, and the Persian Gulf War of 1991. In short, the heart of this chapter lies in the effort to establish the relevance of eighteenth-century events to modern political issues.

Recommended Readings for Document Set 6-1


Lance Bannina. Sacred Fire of Liberty: James Madison and the Founding of the Federal Republic (1995).

Arthur Bestor. "Separation of Powers in the Domains of Foreign Affairs: The Intent of the Constitution Historically Examined." Seton Hall Law Review 5 (1974): 529-665.

Bernard Donahoe and Marshall Smelser. "The Congressional Power to Raise Armies: The Constitutional and Ratifying Conventions 1787-1788." Review of Politics 33 (1971): 202-211.

Harold M. Hyman. Quiet Past and Stormy Present: War Powers in American History (1986).

Leonard Levy. Original Intent and the Framers' Constitution (1988).

Charles A. Lofgren. "War Powers, Treaties, and the Constitution," in Leonard W. Levy and Dennis J. Mahoney, eds., The Framing and Ratification of the Constitution (1987), 242-258.

Richard B. Morris. Witnesses at the Creation: Hamilton, Madison, Jay and the Constitution (1985).

Jack N. Rakove. Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution (1996).

W. Taylor Reveley III. War Powers of the President and Congress: Who Holds the Olive Branch? (1981).

Abraham D. Sofaer. War, Foreign Affairs and Constitutional Power: The Origins (1976).
Audiovisual Resources for Document Set 6-1


American Revolution, Part I--The Cause of Liberty (film--28 min.). Bureau of Audio-Visual Instruction, University of Wisconsin Extension, P.O. Box 2093, Madison, Wis. 53701-2093.

In the Beginning (videotape--60 min.). From In Search of the Constitution Series, with Bill Moyers. Films for the Humanities and Sciences, P.O. Box 2053, Princeton, N.J. 08543-2053.

Inventing a Nation: The Making of the Constitution, Episode 4 of America Series (videotape--52 min.). Time-Life Films, 110 Eisenhower Drive, P.O. Box 644, Paramus, N.J. 07652.

A Little Rebellion Now and Then: Prologue to the Constitution (film). Churchill Films, 622 Robertson Boulevard, Los Angeles, Calif. 90069.

War Powers and Covert Action. The Constitution: That Delicate Balance Series (videotape--60 min.). Zenger Media, 10200 Jefferson Boulevard, P.O. Box 802, Culver City, Calif. 90232-0802.
Document Set 6-2

The Fate of The Loyalists: The Other Americans

1. A Maryland Preacher Resists the Patriots, 1775
2. A New Jersey Artisan Is Tarred and Feathered, 1775
3. The Legislative Attack on the Loyalists, 1777-1782
4. Grace Growden Galloway Defies the Radicals in Philadelphia, 1778, 1779
5. Pennsylvania Radicals Attack Loyalism, 1778, 1779
6. A Loyalist Widow Decries the Fate of Tory Exiles in Canada, 1787
7. A Socioeconomic Profile of Loyalist Claimants, ca. 1780sThis unit takes advantage of the textbook's extensive coverage of the Loyalists during the American Revolution to raise important questions with regard to the character of the colonial struggle against imperial authority. By focusing on the problems confronted by American Tories, it is possible to enrich student understanding of the issues at stake and the complexity of colonial attitudes and reactions to the rebellion. Moreover, the documents afford instructors an opportunity to explore the responses of Loyalist men and women to the Revolution.A good point of departure would be a discussion of revolutionary rhetoric and the use of language as a political tool. The key word to be explored is loyalty, which meant different things to different people. Students might be asked to research the definition and derivation of the term before engaging in a classroom debate over its meaning within the context of a colonial rebellion. Students not only will gain an appreciation for the power and uses of language but also will be forced to grapple with the question of which colonial Americans were "loyal" during the Revolutionary crisis.This discussion should also lead to a more sophisticated student awareness of American public opinion and the variegated responses to the arguments of the patriot party. Using the excellent textbook coverage of diversity in colonial attitudes as background, students may come to understand the widespread ambivalence toward a revolution that pitted Americans against Americans. The documents, which provide both patriot and Tory perspectives, lend themselves to use in a debate format. For example, discussion might be advanced by a role-playing exercise in which students are asked to defend or refute the Loyalist and radical positions.In turn, this discussion could easily be turned toward analysis of the Tories in social, economic, or demographic terms. The documents contain adequate evidence of the interests and backgrounds shared by the Tories. By carefully examining the source material, students should be able to form generalizations with regard to the motivations and agendas that caused Loyalists to behave as they did. The result of this exercise will be the enhancement of student awareness of the relationship between social and economic forces and political behavior.Instructors might also use these documents to launch a sweeping interpretive analysis of the entire Revolution. This inquiry could begin with an examination of the textbook's characterization of the Revolution as "America's first Civil War." Ensuing discussion would focus on a critique of the "internal revolution" thesis as an analytical framework for understanding the American Revolution. Once instructors have provided the relevant historiographical background, students can be asked to use the documents to defend or refute the essential argument. The result should be an enhanced understanding of the Revolution's social impact.Instructors who wish to integrate women's history materials into the survey course will find in the documents ample source material for an exploration of the Revolution's impact on women and the family. This discussion might center on an examination of the ways in which colonial women were affected by the political status of their husbands. The experiences of both Grace Galloway and Polly Dibblee provide a solid basis for discussion of the roles assumed by loyalist women in revolutionary America as well as the frailty of the economic rights they had earlier obtained.Finally, their accounts of patriot actions against loyalist estates and property could be discussed against the background of the legislation cited in the documents. Emphasis might be placed on the fate of the Tories during and after the Revolution, with a discussion that incorporates the estimates made by the textbook and other sources concerning the number of exiles expelled and the voluntary expatriates. The entire unit could be brought to closure with an evaluation of patriot justification for steps taken against the Loyalists and the actions of the British government to relieve their plight.

Recommended Readings for Document Set 6-2


Bernard Bailyn. The Ordeal of Thomas Hutchinson (1975).

Wallace Brown. The Good Americans: The Loyalists in the American Revolution (1969).

Robert M. Calhoon. The Loyalists in Revolutionary America, 1760-1781 (1973).

Jackson Turner Main. The Social Structure of Revolutionary America (1965).

William H. Nelson. The American Tory (1961).

Mary Beth Norton. The British-Americans: The Loyalist Exiles in England, 1774-1789 (1972).

Janice Potter. The Liberty We Seek: Loyalist Ideology in Colonial New York and Massachusetts (1983).

Paul H. Smith. Loyalists and Redcoats (1964).

Claude Van Tyne. The Loyalists in the American Revolution (1959).

James W. St. G Walker. The Black Loyalists (1976).
Audiovisual Resources for Document Set 6-2


Liberty: The American Revolution Series, Vol. 3, 4 (videotapes--60 min. each). PBS Video, 1320 Braddock Place, Alexandria, Va. 22314-1698.

Making a Revolution (videotape--52 min.). America Series, Episode 3. Time-Life Films, 110 Eisenhower Drive, P.O. Box 644, Paramus, N.J. 07652.

On the Home Front: One Family and the American Revolution (audiotape--30 min.). Audiotape Program 4, Legacies Series. Annenberg/CPB Project, 1111 16th Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20036.

Our Founding Mothers: Contributions to American Independence (audiotape--30 min.). NPR Customer Service, P.O. Box 55417, Madison, Wis. 53705.